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[No.  48— Second  Series — 2500.] 


Indian  Rights  Association, 

1305  Arch  Street, 

Philadelphia,  Pa.,  August,  1898. 


A  Review  of  the  Spotted  Hawk  Case. 


The  public  have  heretofore  been  apprised  of  the  trial  and 
conviction,  in  Judge  C.  H.  Loud’s  Court,  of  the  Seventh 
Judicial  District  of  Montana,  of  Spotted  Hawk  and  Little 
Whirlwind,  members  of  the  Northern  Cheyenne  Indian  tribe. 

In  a  brief  review  of  the  earlier  history  of  this  case  it  will  be 
well  to  recall  that  large  herds  of  cattle  and  sheep  graze  over  the 
country  adjoining  the  Northern  Cheyenne  Indian  reservation, 
and  that  a  bitter  feeling  exists  between  the  Stockmen  and 
the  Indians,  it  being  charged  that  the  Indians  have  pillaged  from 
the  herds  adjacent  to  their  reserve. 

About  April  28,  1897,  a  white  sheep-herder,  named  Hoover, 
was  murdered  while  tending  his  flock  near  Tongue  River,  border¬ 
ing  on  the  reservation  of  the  Cheyennes,  an  Indian  named 
Whirlwind,  alias  David  Stanley,  admitted  having  committed 
the  murder  and  prepared  to  meet  his  death  according  to  the 
customs  of  the  tribe,  but  was  prevented  from  doing  so  by  the 
prompt  interference  of  the  Acting  Indian  Agent,  Capt.  Geo.  W. 
H.  Stouch,  U.  S.  A.,  who  desired  no  further  bloodshed  through 
this  peculiar  form  of  justice. 

The  authorities  of  Custer  County,  Montana,  exerted  them¬ 
selves  to  implicate  others,  with  the  result  that  the  self-confessed 
murderer,  Stanley,  under  promise  of  reward,  charged  that  two 
brothers,  Spotted  Hawk  and  Little  Whirlwind,  participated 
in  the  murder,  and  the  arrest  of  the  latter  followed  about 
July  20,  1897  ;  the  further  proceedings  in  the  case  all  tend  to 
show  an  undue  desire  to  secure  other  convictions ;  Mr.  Hamlin 
Garland,  who  was  present  at  a  gathering  at  the  Cheyenne 


1 


2 


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Agency,  with  the  attorneys,  sheriffs,  and  interpreters  on  behalf  of 
the  State,  tersely  states,  in  referring  to  the  proceedings,  ‘ ‘Attorney 
Porter  seemed  to  me  malevolently  eager  to  implicate  other 
Cheyennes  in  the  crime.” 

The  trial  of  Spotted  Hawk  and  Little  Whirlwind  took  place 
during  the  October,  1897,  term  of  the  District  Court  held  at 
Miles  City,  Custer  County,  Montana;  no  direct  evidence  was 
submitted  to  substantiate  the  statement  made  by  Stanley  that  the 
other  two  were  also  guilty. 

The  boy,  Shoulder  Blade,  fifteen  years  of  age,  testified  that 
Spotted  Hawk  and  his  brother,  Little  Whirlwind,  were  with 
Stanley  when  they  first  noticed  the  white  sheep-herder,  but  that 
he  became  frightened  and  ran  home  before  the  shooting. 

The  record  of  the  case  shows  that  the  defense  in  the  trial  of 
Spotted  Hawk  endeavored  to  secure  from  Stanley  the  facts 
regarding  any  promise  of  reward,  by  mitigation  of  sentence,  if 
he  should  implicate  others  with  himself,  and  that  the  Court 
sustained  the  Prosecuting  Attorney’s  objection  to  such  examina¬ 
tion  of  the  witness  in  the  following  language  : 

“  Now  ordinarily,  I  would  not  have  permitted  any  examination 
of  a  witness  along  this  line,  for  the  simple  reason  that  an  attorney 
of  record  could  not  have  promised  this  man  any  immunity  at 
any  time,  but  owing  to  this  being  an  Indian,  the  Court  relaxes 
the  rule,  but  I  think  you  have  gone  far  enough  so  far  as  that 
particular  question  is  concerned.” 

It  is  the  usual  and  accepted  practice  to  allow  the  utmost  free¬ 
dom  in  the  cross-examination  of  accomplices  in  crime  to  show 
any  promise  of  reward  to  secure  testimony. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  murder  was  committed 
one  hundred  miles  from  where  the  Court  was  sitting,  the  attorney 
set  apart  for  the  defense  by  the  State,  asked  for  time,  and  funds 
to  meet  necessary  expenses  in  securing  evidence  from  the  reserva¬ 
tion  ;  this  was  refused;  but  on  the  other  hand  the  County 
Attorney,  together  with  Sheriffs  and  interpreters,  spent  many 
days  on  the  reservation  and  adjoining  territory  in  search  of 
evidence  on  behalf  of  the  State. 

The  result  of  this  trial  was  that  Spotted  Hawk  was  sentenced 
to  be  hung,  and  Little  Whirlwind  received  a  life  term  in  the 
penitentiary. 


3 


A  motion  for  a  new  trial  was  argued  before  the  trial  Judge, 
Hon.  C.  H.  Loud,  the  defense  submitting  seventy-six  specifica¬ 
tions  of  errors,  together  with  twelve  affidavits  furnishing  new 
and  important  evidence,  among  which  appears  that  of  Shoulder 
Blade,  upon  whose  evidence  a  conviction  of  the  two  brothers 
was  had.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  Shoulder’s  Blade’s 
affidavit : 

‘‘State  of  Montana,  County  of  Custer,  ss.  Shoulder  Blade, 
being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  can  tell  in  Eng¬ 
lish  what  I  know  about  the  killing  of  the  sheep-herder, 
Hoover.  Stanley  came  that  evening  and  told  me  that  he  was 
tired,  and  I  asked  him  where  he  came  from,  and  he  says  I  came 
from  up  Logging  Creek.  There  is  a  man  there.  He  was  carry¬ 
ing  a  gun,  Stanley.  And  then  in  the  morning  he  told  me  that 
I  should  go  and  ask  the  sheep-herder  to  give  us  something  to 
eat.  We  saddled  up  our  horses  and  went  along  there,  and  went 
across  Stebbin’s  Creek,  and  we  went  to  the  hills,  and  when  we 
saw  the  tent  he  told  me,  lets  kill  sheep-herder,  you  just  go  up 
and  talk  to  sheep-herder  and  I  come  up  behind  and  shoot  him, 
and  I  didn’t  answer  him,  and  then  after  while  he  told  me  again, 
and  I  told  him  no,  and  he  said  why,  and  I  told  him,  and  he  told 
me,  they  won’t  find  you,  you  are  a  little  boy;  and  I  didn’t  say 
nothing.  And  then  the  tent  wasn’t  far  away,  and  he  told  me  to 
go  and  look  in,  and  if  sheep-herder  is  there  come  back,  and  I 
went  across  to  see  and  there  was  nobody  there  and  I  come  back 
and  told  him  there  is  nothing  but  tent,  and  we  went  and  followed 
sheep  tracks  and  didn’t  find  any  sheep  nor  herder  and  we  came 
back  again  to  tent  and  he  told  me  to  go  and  look  in  once  and 
if  there  is  something  we  steal  in  there,  and  then  I  went  and 
looked  in  tent  and  went  back  and  told  him  there  is  nothing 
there  but  tent.  It  is  alone  I  told  him,  and  he  came  up  to  the 
tent  and  jumped  off  and  give  me  horse  and  went  inside  and  he 
tore  something  inside  and  he  bring  out  soldier  blanket  and  put 
that  on  horse  and  then  he  bring  out  one  package  of  coffee  and 
I  think  mush  and  some  papers.  He  stole  them.  Then  we  went 
away.  Then  after  we  came  to  the  hills  we  throwed  the  papers 
away,  and  we  bring  home  the  coffee  and  that  mush.  And  then 
after  while,  about  in  the  afternoon,  there  was  Stanley’s  wife  there, 
and  afterwards  my  mother  came  in  and  she  asked  us  what  did 
you  do,  did  you  steal  these  things  my  mother  told  him,  and 
Stanley  says  no,  we  beg  from  sheep-herder.  We  went  there  in 
the  evening,  and  the  next  morning  they  fixed  up  a  dance  house, 
and  that  evening  they  began  to  dance,  the  Cheyennes.  It  is 
when  they  begun  to  plow,  and  it  in  the  morning  they  begun  to 
plow  first  at  Little  Whirlwind’s.  They  plowed  Little  Whirl- 


A 


wind’s  garden  first  and  they  begun  to  plow  again  White  Wolf’s 
and  Shoulder  Blade’s. 

“  That  evening  when  we  came  back  Stanley  hid  the  blanket 
in  the  brush,  he  didn’t  want  to  show  it,  and  then  we  got  our 
supper,  we  came  out  and  went  down  to  Sam  O’Connell’s,  then 
he  bought  it.  I  was  the  interpreter  for  him.  He  sold  it  to 
Sam  O’Connell’s  wife  for  fifty  cents.  Stanley  told  me  that  he 
had  killed  the  sheep-herder,  he  told  me  that  evening  when  he 
told  me  he  was  tired.  He  came  back  and  told  me  that  he  was 
tired  and  I  asked  him  where  he  come  from  and  he  told  me  he 
kill  sheep  herder.  I  asked  who  did  you  go  with  and  he  said 
nobody,  I  was  alone  he  says.  I  went  to  Logging  Creek  and 
come  from  there,  he  says,  and  then  in  the  morning  we  went 
riding.  We  killed  no  cow.  There  was  no  cow  killed  like  they 
talked  about  in  the  court  room.  I  remember  what  I  talked  in 
the  trial  of  Little  Whirlwind  and  of  Spotted  Hawk,  about  kill¬ 
ing  the  cow  and  about  Spotted  Hawk  and  Little  Whirlwind 
being  there.  It  wasn’t  true  what  I  said  then  about  that. 
Stanley  told  me  to  tell  that  story.  He  told  me  that  when  I 
first  come  down  here.  Porter  and  Thompson,  they  asked  me 
about  it  this  and  I  told  this  first,  what  I  have  said  now.  I  told 
them  that  first,  and  Thompson  tell  me  I  must  tell  the  truth. 
Stanley  is  telling  the  truth  now.  You  are  just  four,  that  is, 
Stanley  said  that,  and  I  didn’t  know  what  to  tell  him  when  he 
told  me  that,  and  then  after  while  Porter  just  sent  me  in  cage. 
Stanley  was  in  the  cage  with  me  when  I  first  went  back  to  the 
cage.  When  we  went  in  cage  Stanley  told  me.  Stanley  went 
in  first  in  the  cage  and  then  afterwards  I  followed  him,  and  then 
he  told  me  he  didn’t  know  what  to  say,  just  say  what  I  am  going 
to  tell  you,  and  then  afterwards  he  begun  to  teach  me,  you  must 
say  that  about  Spotted  Hawk  and  Little  Whirlwind.  If  you 
don’t  tell  it  you  will  never  get  out  from  jail,  he  says.  It  was 
evening  when  Stanley  said  he  killed  the  sheep-herder,  then  in 
the  morning  we  took  the  ride.  It  was  the  evening  before  we 
went  to  sheep-herder’s  tent  Stanley  said  he  killed  him.  That 
day  I  saw  Little  Whirlwind  and  Spotted  Hawk  plowing  Little 
Whirlwind’s  garden.  That  is  right  across  the  river  from  our 
tepee.  They  were  plowing  there  all  that  day.  I  think  the 
reason  why  he  told  me  to  slip  up  to  the  tent  and  see  if  there 
was  a  sheep-herder  there  and  he  would  kill  him  was  that  he  was 
going  to  kill  another.  I  knew  that  he  had  killed  one.  He  told 
me  that  and  I  believed  him.  When  I  went  to  th£  tent  I  knew 
that  he  had  killed  one  herder.  I  don’t  know  what  he  wanted  to 
kill  him  for.  I  remember  when  they  had  the  dance  on  Tongue 
River  I  was  at  the  dance.  When  we  took  that  ride  then  the 
next  morning  we  had  that  dance.  Stanley  killed  the  sheep- 
herder  the  day  before  we  went  riding.  My  father  has  no  gun. 


5 


While  I  was  in  jail  Stanley  talked  to  me  nearly  every  evening,  he 
says  you  must  never  forget.  No  one  else  spoke  to  me  about  it. 
Stanley  told  me  Spotted  Hawk  and  Little  Whirlwind,  he  says 
those  two  fellows  were  going  to  jail  and  you  will  go  out.  If  you 
don’t  tell  this  you  will  never  go  out,  he  says.  If  you  don’t  tell 
it,  he  says,  they  will  keep  you  long.  He  wanted  Spotted  Hawk 
and  Little  Whirlwind  in  jail  because  then  he  thought  we  would 
get  out,  I  and  Stanley.  Badger  told  me  once  when  he  came  in 
there  first,  Cowhide  was  there  in  the  jail.  It  was  alone  at  night. 
He  came  together  with  Thompson,  the  boy,  and  Porter  and 
Stanley  and  Thompson  and  Porter  went  in  the  room  and  Badger 
told  me  you  must  tell,  I  think  Stanley  has  taught  you  what  you 
know  and  you  must  tell  it  that  way. 

“  I  am  the  same  Shoulder  Blade  who  testified  in  the  trial  of 
Spotted  Hawk  and  Little  Whirlwind,  nobody  pay  me  or  make 
me  tell  this  story  now  it  is  the  truth.  Shoulder  Blade. 

“  Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  this  8th  day  of  January, 
1898. 

‘‘Geo.  R.  Milburn,  Notary  Public.  (Notarial  Seal.) 

“Filed  Jan.  10,  1898.  A.  T.  McAusland,  Clerk.” 

A  new  trial  was  denied;  the  attorneys  for  Spotted  Hawk  at 
once  appealed  his  case  to  the  Supreme  Court  where  it  is  now 
pending. 

The  wife  of  the  self-confessed  murderer,  Stanley,  has  recently 
made  affidavit  corroborating  the  statement  of  Shoulder  Blade 
since  the  trial  which  shows  conclusively  that  Stanley  alone  com¬ 
mitted  the  murder ;  the  affidavit  reads  as  follows  : 

“  State  of  Montana,  County  of  Custer,  ss.  .•  Lame  Woman, 
wife  of  Whirlwind,  alias  David  Stanley,  being  first  duly  sworn 
according  to  law  on  oath  says  :  There  was  a  band  of  about 
twenty  Cheyenne  Indian  men  that  were  plowing  at  Little  Whirl¬ 
wind’s  farm  in  the  spring-time  of  last  year,  that  is  the  year  1897  ; 
my  husband,  Stanley,  was  at  Calf’s  Lodge,  which  is  located  about 
a  mile  below  the  Mission  on  Tongue  River.  I  was  staying  with 
him  there.  He  had  often  said  to  me  previous  to  this  time  that 
he  was  going  to  kill  a  white  man.  They  had  a  dance  outside  of 
Little  Whirlwind’s  camp;  Stanley  did  not  go  to  this  dance,  he 
sat  around,  there  seemed  to  be  something  the  matter  with  him,  he 
did  not  act  right ;  he  had  his  dance  clothes  on,  and  he  said  to  me, 
‘  I  have  done  what  I  have  always  said  I  would  do,  I  have  killed  a 
white  man.’  When  he  said  this  I  was  scared,  I  asked  him  if  he 
hid  the  body,  and  he  said  no.  Before  he  told  me  that  he  had 
killed  a  white  man  he  had  brought  to  the  tepee  a  seamless  sack 
with  two  packages  of  coffee,  a  little  sugar,  some  oatmeal,  a 


6 


colored  shirt,  and  reddish  looking  drawers.  When  he  told  me 
he  had  killed  a  white  man,  I  asked  him  if  any  one  was  with  him 
when  he  killed  him  and  he  said  no.  Stanley  told  me  when  he 
saw  the  white  man  who  was  a  sheep-herder,  the  white  man  said 
to  him,  ‘There  is  one  of  the  dogs  out  looking  for  cattle,’  and 
then  the  white  man  shot  at  Stanley,  and  the  bullet  passed  over 
his  head;  he  said  he  shot  only  once.  Stanley  told  me  that 
after  the  sheep-herder  shot  at  him,  he  shot  the  sheep-herder  in 
the  breast  with  a  gun  and  killed  him ;  the  sheep-herder’s  dog 
ran  away  a  little  distance,  but  he  shot  it  and  put  it  beside  the 
dead  body  of  the  sheep-herder.  Stanley  wore  the  drawers  for 
only  one  day  ;  I  asked  him  if  he  wasn’t  afraid  to  wear  the  drawers 
for  fear  some  one  might  catch  him  with  them  on,  he  said  he  was, 
and  took  them  off  and  threw  them  in  Tongue  River.  The  day 
after  he  told  me  about  killing  the  white  sheep-herder  he  got  all 
ready  with  his  dance  clothes  on  and  said  to  me,  ‘I  will  go  to  the 
dance  anyway,  I  will  be  brave,  I  killed  this  man  on  purpose,  I 
am  not  a  woman,  I  am  a  man.’  Several  days  after  my  husband, 
Stanley,  told  me  of  killing  the  white  sheep-herder  I  was  with 
him  on  the  hill  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  east  of  the  Agency 
buildings,  on  the  Cheyenne  Indian  reservation,  Montana;  his 
father,  named  Badger,  was  with  us,  and  some  others  were  not  far 
away.  Badger  spoke  to  Stanley,  and  took  him  away,  some 
distance  away,  and  talked  with  him  ;  I  heard  what  they  were 
talking  about ;  Badger  said  to  Stanley,  ‘  Son,  was  any  one  with 
you  when  you  killed  the  white  man  ?’  Stanley  answered  him  and 
said  ‘  No.’  Badger  again  spoke  to  him  and  said,  ‘If  there  was 
no  one  with  you,  we  will  have  some  one  with  you  anyway,  two  or 
three  more  into  this  trouble.’  Stanley  called  to  those  about  him 
to  go  down  from  the  hill  and  get  a  good  meal  and  fill  the 
children  up,  and  said  he  would  come  down  and  meet  the  sheriffs. 
Badger  told  Stanley  to  go  back  into  the  hills  and  stay  a  couple 
of  nights  and  give  the  people  trouble  anyway ;  he  went  to  the 
hills  and  stayed  out  three  nights,  and  I  was  with  him  during  all 
this  time.  After  three  nights  we  went  into  Black  Engle’s  camp, 
and  Stanley  was  arrested  there  by  Captain  Stouch,  the  agent, 
who  was  with  some  of  our  Indians.  I  stayed  with  my  husband 
two  nights  in  the  jail  at  the  Agency,  after  that  he  was  taken 
away  by  the  soldiers  to  Miles  City.  I  am  a  member  of  the 
Northern  Cheyenne  tribe  of  Indians  belonging  to  Tongue  River 
Agency,  Montana,  and  have  resided  on  this  reservation  for  several 
years,  and  am  a  full-blood  member  thereof.  Little  Whirlwind’s 
farm  being  located  about  twenty  miles  from  the  agency  buildings 
on  the  said  reservation. 

Her 

“  Lame  X  Woman. 

Mark 


7 


“  Attest:  D.  W.  Hogan. 

“Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  July, 
1898,  I  having  first  sworn  Jas.  Roland,  an  interpreter  of  the 
Cheyenne  Indian  language,  to  interpret  truly  the  same  to  depo¬ 
nent,  who  is  a  Cheyenne  Indian  not  understanding  the  English 
language,  and  he  having  interpreted  the  same  to  deponent. 

“  George  Walters,  Notary  Public. 

[seal.]  “  Commission  expires  Feb.  2,  1901.” 

Mrs.  Samuel  O’Connell  corroborates  under  oath  the  affidavit  of 
Shoulder  Blade  that  she  purchased  the  soldier  blanket  of  Stanley. 

In  view  of  the  action  of  Judge  Loud  refusing  in  cross- 
examination  of  Stanley  to  permit  further  interrogatories  designed 
to  show  promised  leniency  of  sentence  for  testifying  against 
Spotted  Hawk,  the  statements  made  in  Judge  Loud’s  Court, 
July  9,  1898,  before  sentence  was  passed  upon  Stanley,  will  be 
of  interest. 

George  Washington  Myers,  Attorney  for  Stanley,  in  pleading 
for  light  sentence,  emphatically  stated  that  he  had  promised 
Stanley  and  his  friends  that  if  he  would  testify  as  agreed  upon 
against  Spotted  Hawk  and  Little  Whirlwind  he  should  not  be 
sentenced  for  more  than  five  years.  Judge  Loud  then  said: 

“  If  the  Court  was  left  untrammeled,  I  would  feel  disposed  to 
sentence  this  man  to  the  penitentiary  for  the  remainder  of  his 
natural  life.  I  believe  that  by  reason  of  the  man  being  an 
Indian  he  has  perhaps  been  led  to  make  statements  by  such 
promises  held  out  to  him.  I  believe  that  the  County  Attorney 
has,  through  excessive  zeal  to  secure  a  conviction,  been  led  to 
make  promises  which  he  was  not  authorized  to  make.” 

Spotted  Hawk  and  Little  Whirlwind  were  entitled,  under  the 
law,  to  a  fair  and  impartial  trial;  let  us  consider  some' points 
bearing  upon  this  phase  of  the  case : 

The  Hon.  C.  H.  Loud,  who  sat  in  judgment,  is  1st  Vice- 
President  of  the  National  Bank  of  Miles  City,  Montana;  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Lakin,  Westfall  &  Company,  General 
Merchandise,  and  stockholder  of  the  Plerford  Cattle  Company, 
and  General  Manager  thereof,  the  Company’s  cattle  grazing  on 
lands  adjacent  to  the  Cheyenne  Indian  reservation. 

Thomas  Jefferson  Porter,  the  Prosecuting  Attorney,  is  asso¬ 
ciated  with  Jason  W.  Strevell  in  the  practice  of  law;  Mr. 


8 


Strevell  owning  an  interest  in  cattle  that  feed  on  lands  near  the 
reservation  of  the  Cheyennes. 

The  Court  appointed  George  Washington  Myers  attorney  for 
Stanley.  Mr.  Myers  was  also  appointed  counsel  for  Yellow 
Hair,  held  in  custody  for  breaking  jail.  Spotted  Hawk’s 
attorneys  (Messrs.  Merrill  &  Farr)  desired  important  evidence 
from  Yellow  Hair  which  was  refused  by  Attorney  Myers,  it  being 
evident  that  such  testimony  would  be  inimical  to  the  interests  of 
Stanley. 

Application  for  a  change  of  venue  was  made  to  Judge  Loud, 
who  denied  the  application  and  insisted  upon  the  trial  taking 
place  in  his  own  Court.  It  would  appear  to  the  ordinary  lay 
mind  that  the  well-known  prejudice  of  the  cattlemen  before 
whom  the  cases  would  be  tried,  and  the  judge’s  own  relations  to 
the  cattle  interests,  would  have  made  him  feel  a  natural  hesitancy 
to  sit  in  these  cases,  but  he  evidently  was  not  subject  ,  to  any 
such  amiable  weakness.  The  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  must  not  be  anticipated,  but  if  for  any  technical  reason 
it  should  decide  that  it  cannot  legally  reverse  the  judgment  of 
the  lower  Court,  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  law-abiding  citizens 
of  the  State  of  Montana  to  see  that  the  lives  of  these  young 
men  are  not  sacrificed  to  unreasoning  prejudice  and  race  enmity. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Supreme  Court  will  see  its  way  to 
correcting  what  appears  to  outsiders  a  gross  miscarriage  of 
justice. 

We  reprint,  for  the  information  of  our  members,  the  following 
account  of  the  Spotted  Hawk  Case  which  appeared  in  City  and 
State  (Philadelphia),  treating  the  matter  more  in  detail : 

WHO  IS  THE  MURDERER? 

Good  and  fair-minded  men  are  not  the  exclusive  property  of 
any  one  locality  in  the  United  States,  and  we  believe  that  very 
few  citizens  of  Montana  would  desire  that  an  innocent  man, 
whatever  his  race  or  complexion,  should  be  put  to  death  by 
process  of  law.  They  would  still  further  wish  to  free  themselves 
from  the  imputation  of  such  wrong,  as  they  came  to  know  that 
full  evidence  was  obtainable  to  prove  who  the  real  murderer  was. 
They  would  also  say  :  Why  hang  an  innocent  Indian  when  the 


9 


guilty  Indian  was  within  the  grasp  of  the  authorities?  Let  the 
good  people  of  Montana,  and  especially  of  Miles  City,  seat  them¬ 
selves  in  the  judicial  chair  of  public  opinion,  the  most  honorable 
seat  that  an  American  can  occupy,  and  be  prepared  to  give  us 
a  fair  hearing  as  we  shall  endeavor  now  to  state  our  case,  and  in 
a  later  issue  to  prove  it  with  what  we  regard  a  strong  moral 
evidences  that  the  young  Northern  Cheyenne  Indian  under 
sentence  of  death  by  a  conviction  in  the  Lower  Court  for  the 
murder  of  the  herder  Hoover  is  not  the  real  murderer,  but  that 
he  is  an  industrious  young  fellow  of  good  character  and  excel¬ 
lent  record,  who  is  entirely  innocent  of  this  crime  and  free  from 
all  connection  with  it.  We  shall  further  endeavor  to  show  that 
the  real  murderer  is  Stanley,  also  a  Northern  Cheyenne,  and  that 
he  should  be  hanged,  not  Spotted  Hawk,  for  the  cruel  murder 
of  the  timid  little  cripple,  Hoover.  Just  how  it  came  about  that 
a  noose  was  almost  twisted  about  the  neck  of  Spotted  Hawk, 
and  that  what  we  believe  would  have  been  the  crime  of  judicial 
murder  (one  of  the  most  loathsome  of  human  offenses)  was 
imminent,  is  not  our  concern  at  this  moment,  but  it  may  be  our 
concern  later  on ;  and  when  the  time  comes  to  consider  that 
question,  we  may  call  on  Mr.  Thomas  Jefferson  Porter  (then  we 
hope  his  great  namesake  will  not  turn  uneasily  in  his  grave), 
County  Attorney,  and  Sheriff  Gibbs,  to  assist  us  in  our  endeavors 
to  cast  a  clear  ray  of  light  where  dark  shadows  now  obscure  the 
truth  in  this  remarkable  case.  But  before  proceeding  further  in 
the  discussion  of  a  subject  on  which  the  issues  of  life  and  death 
hang,  may  we  state  in  our  own  behalf  (and  so  as  to  show  that 
we  who  undertake  to  discuss  a  question  of  frontier  justice  are 
not  an  ignorant  “  tenderfoot  ”)  that  we  have  had  some  years  of 
personal  experience  with  Indian  affairs  in  North  and  South  Da¬ 
kota,  in  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona  ;  that  we  are  well  acquainted 
with  western  men  as  with  Indians;  and  that  we  desire  nothing 
more  than  to  see  exact  justice  meted  out  to  offenders  of  both 
races  according  to  the  true  American  spirit  ? 

Our  appeal  is  addressed  to  the  conscience  and  sense  of  justice 
of  the  honest  people  of  Montana.  We  believe  that  Spotted 
Hawk  is  innocent  of  the  crime  charged  against  him,  and  that 
Stanley,  an  Indian  of  the  same  tribe  (and  he  alone)  is  guilty. 
Stanley  confessed  to  an  Indian  named  Yellow  Hair  that  he  had 


IO 


committed  this  crime  about  May  i,  1897.  He  then  asked  Yel¬ 
low  Hair  to  help  him  hide  the  body  of  the  murdered  man.  He 
said:  “  My  friend,  I  have  killed  a  white  man;  I  want  to  be 
killed.”  But  Yellow  Hair  refused  to  help  him  hide  the  body 
of  Hoover,  telling  him  that  he  would  have  no  share  in  the  deed. 
The  body  was  found  twenty-three  days  after  the  murder.  But  if 
others  had  shared  in  the  crime  it  would  have  been  carried  off 
and  buried,  as  those  who  know  Indians  are  well  aware.  Why 
did  none  of  this  evidence  come  out  at  the  trial?  It  was  easily 
attainable.  Stanley  came  to  Spotted  Elk  shortly  after  the  murder 
and  borrowed  an  Indian  dancing  stick,  or  wand,  saying  at  the 
same  time  that  he  wished  to  mark  his  first  “coup,”  or  stroke, 
upon  it.  A  “coup  ”  signifies  an  enemy  slain.  These  two  con¬ 
fessions  were  made  before  the  body  was  found,  but  later  Stanley 
confessed  to  White  Bull  and  Bull  Thigh.  These  two  Indians, 
on  the  28th  of  May,  came  to  Captain  Stouch,  U.  S.  A,,  Acting 
Indian  Agent,  and  told  him  what  they  had  learned.  Captain 
Stouch  then  went  before  a  notary  public  and  gave  sworn  testi¬ 
mony  of  his  knowledge  in  the  matter.  In  consequence  of  this, 
Stanley  was  arrested  and  sent  a  prisoner  to  Miles  City.  White 
Shield,  an  Indian  policeman,  who  was  especially  zealous  in  effect¬ 
ing  the  arrest  of  Stanley,  is  a  brother  of  Spotted  Hawk  and 
Little  Whirlwind.  These  men,  without  any  other  evidence  than 
the  false  testimony  of  Stanley  and  Shoulder  Blade,  were  arrested, 
imprisoned,  tried,  and  convicted  of  murder — the  former  in  the 
first  degree,  the  latter  in  the  second.  Now,  a  word  as  to  the 
motive  which  actuated  Stanley.  He  was  known  to  be  of  unsound 
mind,  subject  to  a  severe  mental  disorder  which  attacked  him 
at  intervals.  He  had  formerly  served  in  the  army,  but  had  been 
discharged  for  mental  incapacity.  Stanley’s  original  confession 
was,  “I  did  it  alone,  and  no  one  helped  me.”  He  was  de¬ 
spondent  and  wanted  to  die,  and  thought  that  if  he  killed  a  white 
man  he  might  afterward  die  fighting  for  his  life,  with  the  attend¬ 
ing  and  consequent  glory  so  dear  to  the  wild  Indian — the  man 
whose  ideas  have  not  emerged  from  the  barbaric  stage. 

Such  a  motive  seems  absurd  from  our  point  of  view,  but  it  is 
perfectly  comprehensible  to  those  who  understand  the  Indian 
character,  and  who  are  acquainted  with  Stanley’s  individual 
peculiarities.  He  had  often  talked  of  committing  suicide,  and 


both  he  and  his  father  have  long  been  believed  by  whites  con¬ 
nected  with  the  reservation  to  be  partly  demented.  Before 
Stanley  surrendered  to  Captain  Stouch  he  dressed  himself  for 
his  death  in  Indian  accoutrements,  painted  his  face,  and,  with 
his  rifle  in  hand,  rode  his  pony  in  full  view  on  the  hills  back  of 
the  agency,  ready  to  make  a  dramatic  ending  of  his  career  by 
selling  his  life  as  dearly  as  possible  when  charged  by  a  force  of 
cavalry.  But  Captain  Stouch  forbade  these  intended  theatricals, 
and  Stanley  ultimately  surrendered  without  a  struggle.  In  the 
story  subsequently  told  by  Stanley  and  corroborated  by  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  the  boy,  Shoulder  Blade  (which  the  latter,  at  a  later 
date,  declared  was  false),  he  flatly  contradicted  his  first  confes¬ 
sion.  He  declared  that  he  had  ridden  out  on  the  prairie  with 
Spotted  Hawk  and  Little  Whirlwind,  where  they  had  killed  a 
cow,  which  they  proceeded  to  dress,  when  a  white  man  (Hoover) 
had  espied  them  from  a  hill  top.  As  he  had  threatened  them 
with  punishment,  they  pursued  him  and  shot  him  through  the 
arm.  Then,  when  he  cried  out,  they  came  close  to  him,  and 
Spotted  Hawk  shot  him  through  the  body,  killing  him.  The 
original  story  told  by  Stanley  gave  a  similar  account  of  the  kill¬ 
ing  of  Hoover,  but  without  those  details  which  were  necessary 
to  give  probability  to  his  subsequent  tale  that  Spotted  Hawk  and 
Little  Whirlwind  were  with  him.  Those  who  read  Mr.  Hamlin 
Garland’s  letter  are  informed  of  the  pressure  put  upon  Stanley 
to  perjure  himself,  in  order  to  draw  other  Indians  into  the 
meshes  of  the  law.  In  the  examination  of  Stanley,  held  by 
Sheriff"  Gibbs  and  the  county  attorney  in  the  school-house  on 
the  reservation,  Mr.  Garland  heard  the  former  officer  try  first  to 
threaten  and  browbeat  the  relatives  of  Stanley  in  order  to. make 
them  implicate  others  besides  him  in  the  murder.  This  method 
failing,  Mr.  Garland  quotes  Attorney  Porter  as  saying : 

“You  tell  them  that  if  they  will  give  us  the  names  of  the 
other  people  who  were  implicated  with  Stanley  we  will  try  to 
make  it  easy  for  Stanley.” 

At  the  conclusion  of  hi^  letter  Mr.  Garland  says : 

“Stanley  had  confessed  his  action  at  the  Council  and  had 
proclaimed  his  guilt ;  he  said,  ‘there  are  no  others,’  and  reason¬ 
able  men  would  have  thought  the  evidence  conclusive.  He 
killed  the  man,  and  might  lawfully  be  hung,  but  the  process  of 


bribing  his  poor  relatives  to  implicate  others,  and  presumably 
innocent  parties,  was  exceedingly  repulsive  to  my  sense  of 
justice,  and  so  I  reported  to  Captain  Stouch  and  the  officers 
of  the  Tenth  Regiment.  Attorney  Porter  seemed  to  me  malev¬ 
olently  eager  to  implicate  other  Cheyennes  in  the  crime.” 

Why,  we  ask  in  addition,  was  Shoulder  Blade  treated  with  such 
extraordinary  consideration  by  the  sheriff  when  he  was  taken  to 
Miles  City  previous  to  his  testimony  which  convicted  Spotted 
Hawk?  He  was  given  candy,  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  and  he 
frequently  took  his  meals  at  the  sheriff’s  house.  Can  any  one 
escape  the  conviction  that  the  story  Shoulder  Blade  first  told,  and 
which  was  to  have  hanged  Spotted  Hawk,  was  taught  him  by 
some  person  with  evil  intent  ?  Can  Thomas  Jefferson  Porter  and 
John  Gibbs  throw  any  light  on  this  point?  The  testimony  was 
obtainable  of  seven  or  eight  Indian  witnesses  to  prove  that 
Spotted  Hawk  and  Little  Whirlwind  were  busy  with  spring 
plowing  at  the  time  and  on  the  day  when  the  murder  was  com¬ 
mitted,  and  that  they  were  so  engaged  for  a  number  of  days 
before  and  after.  Spotted  Hawk  said  calmly:  “If  you  hang 
me,  I  die  an  innocent  man.”  Can  any  reasonably  person  deny, 
after  reading  the  foregoing  facts,  that  he  spoke  the  literal  truth, 
and  that  in  the  attempt  to  take  his  life,  a  crime,  loathsome  in 
the  sight  of  God  and  man,  was  attempted  and  nearly  con¬ 
summated  ?  The  honor  and  sense  of  justice  of  good  men  in 
Montana,  as  elsewhere,  will  demand  reparation  for  this,  a  wrong 
none  the  less  heinous  that  it  was  aimed  to  destroy  the  lives  of 
two  defenseless  Indians. 

The  following  letter  was  received  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Indian  Rights  Association  relative  to  the  case  of  Spotted 
Hawk : 

“The  Regent  Hotel,  Washington ,  D.  C.,  March  21 , 1898. 

“  Mr.  Herbert  Welsh  : 

“  Dear  Sir. — In  reply  to  your  request  concerning  my  account 
of  the  action  of  Sheriff  Gibbs  and  Prosecuting  Attorney  Porter 
on  the  Cheyenne  Reservation  last  summer,  I  reply  I  was  visiting 
the  Cheyenne  Reservation  shortly  after  the  killing  of  the  herder 
Hoover  by  ‘  Little  Whirlwind’s  Voice,’  or  Stanley,  as  he  is 
called  by  the  whites.  One  day  Captain  Stouch  told  me  that 
County  Attorney  Porter  and  Sheriff  Gibbs  were  there  attempt- 


*3 


ing  to  secure  evidence  to  implicate  other  Cheyennes  in  the 
murder,  although  Stanley  had  confessed  to  having  killed  the 
man,  and  had  said  that  no  one  else  was  concerned  with  him. 
Captain  Stouch  asked  me  if  it  would  interest  me  to  go  over  to 
the  school-room  where  this  evidence  was  being  taken.  I  told 
him  it  would. 

“Accordingly,  my  brother  and  I  crossed  the  yard  and  entered 
the  room,  in  which  were  several  Cheyennes,  the  Sheriff,  and 
the  County  Attorney.  The  interpreter,  whose  name,  I  believe, 
was  Roland,  was  sitting  one  side  of  the  table,  the  attorney  on 
the  other,  while  the  witnesses  were  brought  in  and  seated  at  the 
end  of  the  table.  The  general  air  of  the  room  was  that  of  a 
justice  court,  and  after  being  there  a  few  minutes  it  became 
evident  to  me  that  the  Indians  considered  themselves  bound  to 
come  forward  and  testify. 

“  The  purpose  of  this  investigation  became  evident.  The  two 
men  began  to  work  upon  the  father,  mother,  and  wife  of  Stanley 
to  induce  them  to  implicate  others.  The  Sheriff  was  disposed  to 
threaten  and  bulldoze  the  witnesses,  but  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
interpreter  the  County  Attorney  took  the  more  effective  method 
of  offering  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  bribe.  He  said  in 
substance,  ‘  You  tell  them  that  if  they  will  give  us  the  names  of 
the  other  people  who  were  implicated  with  Stanley  we  will  make 
it  easy  for  Stanley.’  What  form  this  took  in  the  words  of  the 
interpreter  I  do  not  know,  but  the  general  effect  of  the  proceed¬ 
ings  there  impressed  me  so  strongly  that,  on  returning  to  dinner 
in  the  tent  of  Captain  Cooper  and  Lieutenant  Livermore  of  the 
Tenth  Cavalry,  I  said,  ‘  I  think  it  a  very  injudicious  thing  to 
allow  those  men  to  proceed  without  restraint  in  their  investiga¬ 
tion.  They  are  exceedingly  eager  to  connect  other  Cheyennes 
with  this  murder,  and  are  offering  inducements  which  may  lead 
to  perjury  on  the  part  of  Stanley’s  relatives.  I  think  Captain 
Stouch  or  his  representative  should  be  there  and  see  that  no 
improper  use  of  power  takes  place.’ 

“  Later  I  made  the  same  statement  to  Captain  Stouch,  who 
replied,  ‘  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  talk  about  the' agent 
shielding  criminals,  and  so  I  thought  it  well  to  give  these  men 
the  widest  opportunity  to  investigate.’ 

“I  realized  the  force  of  his  reply,  but  insisted  that  it  was  a 
very  dangerous  thing,  and  that  ill  would  come  of  it.  I  could 
see  no  reason  why  these  officers  of  the  county  should  have  the 
privilege  of  coming  in  upon  the  Reservation  and  by  a  sort  of 
mock  court  manufacture  evidence  against  people  who  were 
probably  entirely  disconnected  with  the  crime  which  had  been 
committed.  Stanley  had  confessed ;  his  action  at  the  council 
had  proclaimed  his  guilt;  he  had  said,  ‘  There  are  no  others,’ 
and  reasonable  men  would  have  thought  the  evidence  conclusive. 


x4 

He  killed  the  man  and  might  lawfully  be  hung,  but  the  process 
of  bribing  his  poor  relatives  to  implicate  other  and  presumably 
innocent  parties  was  exceedingly  repulsive  to  my  sense  of  justice, 
and  I  so  reported  to  Captain  Stouch  and  to  the  officers  of  the 
Tenth  Regiment.  Attorney  Porter  seemed  to  me  malevolently 
eager  to  implicate  other  Cheyennes  in  the  crime. 

“  Hoping  this  covers  the  ground  of  your  request,  I  remain, 

“  Yours  very  truly, 


“  Hamlin  Garland.” 


_ 


